Uttarakhand: Flood-like situation in Rishikesh due to heavy rains

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) [India], August 14 (ANI): Flood-like situation in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh due to incessant rains and the water level of Ganga is above the danger level, informed the officials on Monday.
According to the officials, the Triveni Ghat submerged due to increased water level in Ganga. Rishikesh police has barricaded the tourists from going to Ganga Ghat.
The police rescued 20 people trapped in submerged houses in Rishikesh's Ambagh, said the officials.
"SDRF team took immediate action on the information of some people being trapped in the submerged houses due to waterlogging in Seema Dental displaced area, Ambagh in Rishikesh, immediately reached the spot and rescued 20 people trapped there with the help of rafts and brought them to a safe place," the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) of Uttarakhand police shared in a tweet.
Due to incessant rains, a large part of the road in Thano-Bhogpur on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road has been washed away by the strong current of the river.
On the situation arising out of incessant rain in Uttarakhand, Garhwal Range IG Karan Singh Nagnyal said, "The collapsed building housed a coaching centre helping students to prepare for Defence exams. There were 85 students enrolled in this coaching institute. All these students were removed from the building the last evening, seeing the danger of rising water. On the Neelkanth Marg, there's the Mohan Chatti area where a family from Haryana got buried in the debris. There is information about 5 people getting buried consisting of a wife and husband, their two sons and the wife's brother. There's news of two people drowning near Rishikesh, one of them is safe, but the search is going on for the other. In at least 10-15 places there's a huge roadblock due to debris. Rescue work underway."
Meanwhile, the officials informed that the Char Dham Yatra has been stopped temporarily on the August 14 and 15 following disruption in the movement of traffic due to landslides after heavy rainfall in the state.
Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana inquired from the Disaster Control Room about the damage caused by incessant rains in the district and the current situation.
He directed all the SDMs that immediate relief should be provided to the places where there has been damage due to rain.
DM has also given instructions to stop the yatra immediately in view of the Badrinath highway being obstructed at many places and the possible danger of landslides on the highway and to keep the pilgrims at safe places. 
Uttarakhand's Rishikesh recorded the highest rainfall, across the country, in a span of 24 hours on Monday morning with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showing that it received 42.00 cm of rain during the period.
According to IMD, Rishikesh is followed by Himachal Pradesh's Kangra which received 27.00 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. (ANI)